Tacoma’s North Alder Street needs some TLC, but it is going to be quite a while yet

Q: North Alder Street is in need of repaving between Sixth Avenue and North 21st Street. Is the city planning to do anything about it?

A: This one came from a reader who left a voicemail, but I accidentally deleted it without taking down her name, so I don’t have it. Trust me, she exists. (She also noted in her message that I didn’t need to call her back, which is appreciated, by the way.)

This stretch of street currently is not earmarked as one of thoseto be repaved or fixed as a result of the Tacoma Streets Initiative, a voter-approved 10-year tax package designed to raise $175 million to fix the city’s streets (another $30 million will come from the city, and officials hope to get an additional $120 million in grant money for a total of $325 million).

A city spokeswoman said Public Works officials are aware of the problems on North Alder and are looking into it, though they didn’t mention repaving as far down as Sixth Avenue.

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“The Public Works Department and Environmental Services is in the process of evaluating Alder Street between North 15th and North 21st Street along with several residential blocks in the area for resurfacing with new asphalt,” the spokeswoman said in an email. “The City is currently evaluating the condition of the sewer mains in the area to determine if they need to be replaced before we pave the streets.”

But when?

The city said it tentatively has scheduled that stretch to be repaved in 2019 or 2020. That is subject to change, though, depending on what is found when the city evaluates the sewer mains.

“Street Operations will continue to patch potholes as they occur until such time as Alder Street can be repaved,” the spokeswoman said.